What film stocks were used in the 1940s for home movies and newsreels?

Jamie Goldberg · March 14

Hi,

First time posting here with a pretty niche question. I am a director putting together a documentary set in 1940s London. We want to shoot a lot of reenactment for the doc but in the style of some of the archive I have obtained. I was looking at shooting some stuff in a home movie sort of way with double 8 film so my first question is does anyone know a popular double 8 film that would have been used in the 1940s in Britain? Everyone talks about Kodachrome but I'd like black and white. I saw some footage of Super X that looks great. And then, what film could I find that has a similar resemblance? So far Fomapan R100 has caught my eye but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Secondly, I need to know what sort of stock would be used for newsreels? I thought 16mm film was used for newsreels and so was guessing something like the old Ilford stock but after a bit of research it looks like maybe 35mm would have been used as well as it was not as expensive as it is today. What do people think would have bee used and how could I go about emulating this? If it was 35mm I probably would shoot on 16 anyway because I remember David Lowery talking about new 16 looking like old 35 on the DVD commentary for The Old Man & the Gun.

Would really appreciate any answers.

Joerg Polzfusz · March 14

Hi!

Newsreels: 35mm and 16mm (most likely in this order)

Homemovies: 9.5mm, Double8 and 16mm (most likely in this order)

Filmstocks in the 1940s in London? During WWII or after WWII?

During WWII: most likely only Ilford and Kodak, maybe some DuPont, 3M or Gaf

After WWII: same as above plus most likely also Agfa West and Agfa East (=Orwo), Ferrania, Gevaert, Pathé, maybe even Fuji

Joerg Polzfusz · March 14

Home movies:

As you can see on this „lightmeter“ of a camera produced somewhen between 1945 and 1955 in the USA, the average color reversal film had 10 ASA, while the average B&W reversal had 40 ASA. (In fact, I would assume that the average B&W would have been 25 ASA.) That’s why most home movies of that time had very little visible grain.

Steadiness of the image: you can assume that the majority of the camera owners knew how to hold a camera steady (and how to use a monopod or tripod). The main reason why films of that era are assumed to be „shaky“ is because of film damages (after being projected several times per year over decades) and shrinking filmstocks. But when new, they should have been very steady.

Sharpness: The majority of the camera owners knew how to properly focus. However, a large number of cameras only had fixfocus primes. (You can emulate this by permanently setting your lens to 6m.)

Exposure: The majority of the cameras didn’t have any autoexposure. Hence, you needed an external lightmeter or a table like the one on the Revere. When starting the scene, the exposure was most likely spot on. But when moving the camera (e.g. panning), there was no easy way to adjust the iris accordingly.

Lens flares: At least 50% of the cameras had cheap lenses (=uncoated lenses).

No zoom: In the 1940s, there had been no zoom lenses. The closest thing an amateur could afford was a camera with a lens turret for three different prime lenses.

Good luck!

Jamie Goldberg · March 14

After WWII for film stocks. Are there any 16mm film stocks around now that would have been used back then do you think? The only black and white 16mm stocks I've found in London are either Double or Orwo Un54.

Great advice regarding home movies. This will help me emulate the time period better with double 8. And yeah in regards to grain I think I will just overexpose by a stop to minimise that.

Simon Wyss · March 15

Fomapan Reversal was introduced in 1950, named R21 initially.

Eastman-Kodak made Panatomic-X available in 16-mm. and Double-Eight in 1947, ASA 32. Super-X and -XX came out before the war, Plus-X negative in 1938. You still had the early Kodak Safety Ciné film which was orthochromatic reversible and Kodak Panchromatic Safety reversible. Bauchet introduced a Super Panchro reversal in 1939. Gevaert stocks since 1932. Schleussner and Mimosa since 1936. In Britain there was available Selo ortho. reversal in 9.5-mm. in the twenties until 1928. Ilford Pan F from 1956 on. Konica made 16-mm. film from 1931 on, Double-Eight stock since 1933. The Kodak reversal stocks on grey and blue base began being used from 1954 on. Developers used to be hydroquinone-metol formulae.

Newsreels were 35-mm. with 16-mm. exceptions rather than the rule. Blow-up and reduction printing was done since the early 1930s. You had a clear-cut distinction between professional commercial cinema which used standard film and the substandard amateur or, to some extent, scientific cinema. Experimental cinema happened on standard film. Artists used the spring driven Sept by Debrie, ICA Kinamo, Cinégraphe Bol, Bell & Howell Eyemo, De Vry.

8-mm. was considered a purely home movie format. Kodachrome became available in 16 and Double-Eight in 1936. The finer-grained Kodachrome II came out in 1961.

Why emulate something that won’t be recognized as original? Will you project? Will you use non-bloomed lenses on camera and projector? Do you have an idea of the light seen by the public, incandescent, carbon arc? Do you want your images go lost in the sea of LCD displays like all others? Cinema is something apart from computers and data. Films can be projected without electricity.